SHE & HIM ANNOUNCE VOLUME TWO

She & Him will release their sophomore album, Volume Two, on April 5th, 2010 via Double Six. Written by Zooey Deschanel (She) and produced by M. Ward (Him), Volume Two is the highly anticipated follow up to the duo’s critically acclaimed debut, Volume One.

Volume Two makes good on Volume One’s musical promise and then some. With eleven original tracks and two covers – “Ridin’ In My Car” by NRBQ and Skeeter Davis’ “Gonna Get Along Without You Now” – Volume Two is bigger, bolder and more beautiful than its predecessor; the vocal arrangements, courtesy of Zooey, are dynamic, and show our singing heroine expanding her range in gorgeous ways, while the string arrangements, courtesy of M., are perfectly placed musical moments. Remaining constant are M.’s reverb-tinged guitar lines, a signature sound in all of his recordings, and Zooey’s incredible voice, sounding like a relic from the past and like nothing you’ve ever heard before.

She & Him created one of 2008’s most memorable recordings in Volume One, an album packed full of endlessly brilliant, effortlessly charming pop songs. Upon release, the record was met with the deafening roar of praise, a testament to M.’s sun-soaked instrumentation and Zooey’s incredible knack for writing pitch-perfect choruses. The duo assembled a live band to fill out their sound on the stage, and hit the road together for the first time, selling out shows from coast to coast. They performed on television shows from Elvis Costello’s Spectacle to Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and dominated year-end lists. Following in the footsteps of duos like The Carpenters and Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood before them, She & Him very quickly established themselves amongst pop’s finest two-piece collaborators.

Their work together also served to complement their individual talents. Indeed, the last year has been full of exciting endeavors for She and for Him: in addition to contributing vocals to Jenny Lewis’ album, Acid Tongue, Zooey dazzled movie goers in this summer’s hit film (500) Days of Summer (She & Him actually covered a pivotal song in the film – The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” – for the soundtrack), while M. Ward released his fifth lauded solo album, Hold Time, and collaborated with friends Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Jim James under the moniker Monsters of Folk. Yet, when the pockets of downtime appeared, Zooey and M. jumped on them, working in studios in Los Angeles and Portland whenever they could to bring the newest batch of songs Zooey had written to fruition.

Described by Zooey as a “feel-good album,” Volume Two is bolstered by rich harmonies, sweet-as-sugar melodies and Brill Building choruses. From sweeping opener “Thieves” and first single “In the Sun” (featuring guest vocals by Tilly and the Wall), to the tempo and mood shifts of “Home” and the vocals-only, hymn-like closer “If You Can’t Sleep,”Volume Two shimmers from start to finish.